The Clown Car in Life

One of my best girlfriends (with whom I travel pretty frequently) teases me about the fact that my suitcase always looks like a clown car. In other words, I can pack for a week (anywhere) in a carry on. I do this mainly because I can’t stand to wait at baggage claim for my luggage (a complete waste of time in my opinion!). I happen to take a great deal of pride in my “Clown Car” packing ability.

Lately, however, I’ve been feeling like my life is a bit of a clown car, i.e., full of fun and joy, but overflowing so much that my tires are beginning to flatten. I have so many Silver Linings in my life right now. These Silver Linings are making me overly optimistic about what I can do each day resulting in an over planned and over committed (is that redundant?) schedule.

My mind is confident that I can do it all while ignoring my body’s persistent feeling of fatigue. I often feels as though I am making up for lost time. After all, FBC (f-bomb breast cancer) did take an entire year of my life.

Now, I am NOT complaining. Not at all. I’m just recognizing that burning the candles at all ends isn’t working for me!

So, this week, here’s my plan to handle the Clown Car in my life:

Acknowledgement. I’m recognizing the fact that I am burning the candles at both ends and it’s not working for me. I know that I’m not alone. So many of us go nonstop from the time we break covers in the morning to late at night.

Identify Priorities

Self-care (sleep, eating well and exercise)

Family (spending focused time with the HOTY and Sweetly Six)

Work (setting aside a dedicated period of time every day to work and when that time is up, stopping)

Friends (catching up with friends I haven’t seen in TOO LONG!)

Work Smarter by turning OFF my email/internet/twitter/facebook when I am writing)

Choose Activities Wisely by asking: Is this the highest and best use of my time?

Say No…or at least No for Now. I’m going to listen to my “this doesn’t feel right” voice in my head and heart (that has been chatting for some time, but I’ve been ignoring).

Are you all overcommitted? (I can just hear the guffaw’s!) What do you do to maintain balance?

Comments

I am getting a big problem with all I have to do day after day. I feel I have a bad organisation, and I am trying to find solutions…My body is sometimes giving me signs than I have to listen to. But I would like to get the same energy I had before. The energy inside is the same but my legs do not follow my mind anymore. I miss time and I would like to do sooo many things I do not find the time to do…Anyway I love what Mary Beth wrote. It is so true !
When I watch my kids, I know than my family is the main point. I do not really find balance in my life yet but I know than a day I showed them how much I love them is a good day.

I try to remember that this is not a race! We get too caught up in doing that we forget to be! It does not hurt to breathe and smell the flowers. It is easy to get caught back up into the world we once knew but our bodies are our glorious reminders to sometimes slow down! Go easy on yourself!

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Hollye’s book, The Silver Lining: A Supportive and Insightful Guide to Breast Cancer, was published by Simon & Schuster on March 2014. The book is co-authored by her dear friend, photographer Elizabeth Messina. It became a New York Times, Washington Post and LA Times bestseller.